The project aims to achieve several ambitious yet realistic objectives for the benefit of students with disabilities (SWD) and the staff involved. For SWD, the general goal is to facilitate (and increase) mobility opportunities related to their study programs by ensuring that the teams responsible for supporting SWD, both in home and host institutions, work closely together and follow similar or complementary procedures. The project also includes a sports component, enabling SWD to discover and then regularly practice a sport under optimal conditions, with, for example, staff specially trained in adaptive sports or specific equipment. Of course, the goal is not to separate SWD from other students, whether in their studies or sports activities. In an inclusive approach, priority will be given (depending on the possibilities of the sport in question) to creating mixed teams, as with sailing in La Rochelle or calisthenics in Athens
The issue of welcoming, supporting, and training “students with special status” arises recurrently in higher education institutions, both in France and in the other countries of this consortium. Among these students, students with disabilities (SWD) constitute the majority, which makes it legitimate within a European university to pay particular attention to their needs within the framework of a cooperation project. Laws, practices, and financial resources vary from one institution to another, influencing the support measures established for these students, especially concerning access to training programs and, even more so, to sports activities. SWD express specific needs that, often linked to their disability, are directly related to the obstacles posed by international mobility, which is frequently seen as challenging to pursue under suitable conditions, despite the many advantages it can offer. Our project aims to enhance the benefits of exchanges and interpersonal relationships to address these needs.